I was really looking forward to reading this book. I liked Sherwood's best-selling "Chakra Therapy" a lot. In this supposedly "expert" overview of the nonphysical human self and Self, however, Sherwood has lost his former humbleness and simple, straightforward approach, and instead presents a lot of concepts he has clearly invented himself as if they were something all of us "energy body experts" (i.e. self-proclaimed new age masters) already agreed to the meaning and usage of.

Not one single time does he explain to the reader how it was that he came to the conclusions drawn in the book, some of which are truly hard to believe (at least without any kind of logical premises to back them up or some kind of description of his own abilities/experiences with seeing energy). Other statements he makes are just plain offensive, such as describing all nonphysical beings as energy vampires. To anyone who does not possess the kind of prejudice and fear Sherwood does, this is pure nonsense. Maybe if Sherwood would go a little outside his own cherished models he could actually make something of genuine worth and originality. Instead he has chosen the Indian conceptual world to the exclusion of everything else.

I am hard pressed to understand how anyone can use the information contained in this book for any real spiritual awakening. The sad part is that Sherwood obviously has some very valueable insights into human karma and its relationship to the human energy system - he just doesn't seem to be able to integrate his insights into a world-view which does not exclude other models and perceptual systems.